Edinburgh rocked by Paterson injury blow

Edinburgh Gunners were dealt a major blow ahead of their Celtic League quarter-final against Cardiff when the Scotland international Chris Paterson was ruled out of the game at Meadowbank with an eye injury sustained in the victory over Fiji on Sunday.

Paterson's eye was scratched during the game and he was declared unfit to face the Welsh club after further examination. Paterson's absence is the only change to the Gunners' squad.

In Rome, the Italy captain Alessandro Troncon has backed the Azzurri coach John Kirwan's decision to leave him out of the starting line-up for last weekend's Test match against Australia. Troncon had to settle for a place on the bench as Kirwan juggled his team following their 36-6 defeat to Argentina the previous weekend. The young lock Marco Bortolami led Italy for the match against the world champions, which the Wallabies won 34-3.

The scrum-half was disappointed by Kirwan's decision, but not bitter and knows he will have further opportunities to add to his 71 international caps.

"I respect John's decision because he wanted to try everybody, but of course as captain I was a little sad," Troncon said. "But I will have other chances to play and my target is the Six Nations and the World Cup."

League leaders Treviso face a test of their championship credentials this weekend when they play host to second-placed Calvisano at the Monigo Stadium. Treviso are a point clear of Calvisano after six games with the next-best team, champions Viadana, seven points further back.

The two runaway leaders are the only unbeaten teams in the league and Troncon, Treviso's Italy international, is preparing for a real battle. "Playing against Calvisano is always very difficult, but this game could be harder than ever," he said. "They will do everything to beat us because if they lose, the gap could become six or seven points."

The Calvisano coach Claudio Appiani admits his side will have to play better against the leaders than they did in their 24-15 win over SKG Parma last time out. "This is our most difficult game," Appiani said. "The problem is we come into this match after some unsatisfactory games – we won, but without looking convincing.

"The last game against SKG Parma we won only in the last minute and this has not made me very happy. The key is to try to stop Brendan Williams [Treviso's Australia sevens' international]."